Provisional Registration
A vessel may be provisionally registered.
Vessels that are provisionally registered will be issued with a Provisional Certificate of Registry valid for a maximum period of one year with no possibility of any extension. The vessel must be transferred to the permanent register before the end of this period. The transfer will be effected when all the outstanding documents for permanent registration are submitted.
No fee is charged for this transfer.
Documents to be submitted for Provisional Registration:
Application Form
- Download and complete the application for for provisional registration (.pdf, 1 MB).
- Where the vessel owner is an individual, the declaration in the application form may be signed by him or his appointed agent.
- Where the owner is a corporate body, the form may be signed by a Director or the Secretary of the corporate body. The Director can also appoint an agent to sign on his behalf.
- Where the vessel owner is an individual, the declaration in the application form may be signed by him or his appointed agent.
- The declaration must be made on or after the date of acquiring the legal title to the vessel.
- The declaration must be made before the Director of Marine, a surveyor of ships, a Justice of the Peace, a Commissioner for Oaths or any person authorised to take or receive a declaration by any laws in force in Singapore.
- If an application is made for a post-dated Certificate of Registry, the completed application form, except for the signature(s) of the declarant(s), must be submitted at least three working days before the date on which the certificate is to be collected. On the date of registration, the declarant(s) must be present to attest his/their signature(s) and date the declaration.
Business Profile
The business profile lists the company’s particulars as lodged with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).
- Where the vessel owner is a company incorporated in Singapore, the application form must be accompanied by one of the following documents:
- A computer printout on the company from the ACRA’s Instant Information Service, accompanied by a Certificate of Production of Statement by Computer. The computer printout to be submitted must be the latest or at least dated 3 months from the date of vessel's registration.
- Business Profile certified copies of all the following:
- Certificate of Incorporation.
- Annual return or filing, giving particulars of directors, managers and secretaries (the latest annual return or Form 49). The annual return/filing can be obtained online from www.bizfile.gov.sg (under iShop@ACRA).
- Certificate of Incorporation.
- The owner must notify the Registrar of Ships of any changes in the particulars pertaining to the ship, within 30 days of the change. All such notification must be accompanied by appropriate documentary evidence.
- Where the owner is a company, information will be required on its direct and indirect equity holders, but only to the extent necessary to establish whether the owner is local or foreign owned company. This information, other than the name and address of the company, will be kept strictly confidential.
- A computer printout on the company from the ACRA’s Instant Information Service, accompanied by a Certificate of Production of Statement by Computer. The computer printout to be submitted must be the latest or at least dated 3 months from the date of vessel's registration.
Appointment of an Agent (where required)
An agent may be appointed to sign the declaration in the registration application form. To appoint an agent, the owner must complete the Appointment of Agent form.
- When the owner is an individual, he may appoint an agent. The owner must sign the appointment form in the presence of a witness.
- When the owner is a company and if the registration application form is not signed by a Director or the Secretary of the company, then a person must be appointed as an agent for the purpose of signing the form. The appointment of the agent must be executed under the common seal of the company.
Appointment of a Manager
The vessel manager is responsible for all matters related to ship registration and crew manning such as the day-to-day correspondences, billings including annual tonnage tax (ATT) with the Singapore Ship Registry Department (SSR) and the Seafarers Policy, Development & Welfare Department (SPDW). All communications relating to the vessel will be directed to the manager.
- For every Singapore vessel, the owner must appoint a manager, whose residence is in Singapore.
- Where the owner is an individual, he may appoint himself as the manager.
- Where the owner is a company, it may appoint an employee of the company to be the manager.
- Where a company is appointed manager, the name of the person in the company with the ultimate responsibility for the vessel and his designation in the company must be clearly indicated.
- Where the owner is an individual, he may appoint himself as the manager.
The appointment of the manager must be made by the owner by completing the Appointment of Manager form. The original form has to be submitted to the Registrar of Ships.
If there is a change in the manager, the vessel owner must complete a new form and submit the duly completed original form to the Registrar of Ships within seven days of the change.
Evidence of Ownership
The following are required as proof of ownership:
- For a/an:
- new vessel/new building, a photocopy of the Builder’s Certificate is required.
- existing vessel, a copy of the Bill of Sale is required.
- existing vessel without change in ownership, a transcript of its former registry is required.
- new vessel/new building, a photocopy of the Builder’s Certificate is required.
- Builder Certificate or Bill of Sale is to be submitted together with a copy of the Power of Attorney (POA) if it was executed under the Power of Attorney.
- If there are any intervening changes in ownership, all the intermediate Bills of Sale must also be submitted. There must be continuity of title.
- Any Builder Certificate or Bill of Sale that is executed outside Singapore must be notarised and Singapore legalised. If the executor is not a local and documents are executed in Singapore, a letter of confirmation from the executor or notarisation of the documents is required.
- It is the vessel owners’ responsibility to ensure that the Builder Certificate or Bill of Sale is properly executed and conveys good title to them.
- The original document of title to ownership must be submitted together with a copy. The original document will be returned with an endorsement after completion of the registration formalities.
Evidence that vessel is free from registered encumbrances
A clean transcript from former Registry.
A copy is to be submitted. The date of issuance of the clean transcript must not be more than 3 days before the date of the change of flag.
In the absence of a clean transcript, a letter from the Owner to undertake that the vessel will be free of encumbrances on day of flag change and that no mortgage will be registered with the Singapore Registry until the clean transcript or deletion certificate from the former Registry is provided, will be considered.
Value of the Vessel
The owner must declare the value of the vessel in Singapore Dollars under the company’s letterhead if this is not reflected in other documents submitted (i.e. Bill of Sale).
Tonnage Certificate
All vessels must have their tonnage determined in accordance with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping (Tonnage) Regulations (which gives effect to the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 (TM 69)).
- A tonnage certificate may be issued by the MPA’s Shipping Division or any of the classification societies authorised by the MPA.
- A TM 69 Tonnage Certificate issued by the government of a contracting state to TM 69 may be accepted for provisional registration only. The vessel must have its tonnage certificate re-issued by the MPA’s Shipping Division or any one of the authorised classification societies not later than one year after its initial registration. Should there be any difference in the net tonnage, the registration fee and the annual tonnage tax payable will be adjusted accordingly.
- The tonnage of a Singapore vessel may not be re-determined except in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations mentioned above and re-registration / registration anew may be required. If the intention is to convert or modify the vessel after registration before it is put into service, it should be clearly stated in the application form that the tonnage given is an interim figure.
- In the case of a new construction (newbuild), an interim tonnage certificate issued by the MPA’s shipping division or one of the authorised classification societies is required.
Class Certificate
A copy of the vessel’s classification certificate issued by any of the authorised classification societies may be accepted as evidence of seaworthiness.
- For a new vessel, an interim class certificate or statement of entry is required.
- For an existing vessel, a statement of class maintained is required.
Acceptance of Provisional Registration
Upon satisfying the requirements stated above, the Certificate of Registry and a Carving and Marking Note will be issued.
The Carving and Marking Note has to be certified by a surveyor from the MPA’s Shipping Division or one of the authorised classification societies and returned to the Registry within 30 days of its issuance date.
Checklist of Required Documents
To ensure that you have all the relevant documents for the provisional registration of your vessel, use this checklist.
Fees
- The fee for an initial/ordinary registration is S$2.50 per NT subject to a minimum of S$1,250 (500 NT) and a maximum of S$50,000 (20,000 NT).
- The annual tonnage tax is S$0.20 per NT subject to a minimum of S$100 (500 NT) and a maximum of S$10,000 (50,000 NT).